1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to child resistant caps for containers, and, more specifically, to non-round containers, especially oval containers. Thus, the present invention pertains to child resistant overcaps for odd shaped containers, especially oval containers.
1. Information Disclosure Statement
The following patents represent child resistant safety caps and containers:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,716,161 describes a safety closure for a medicine bottle or like. The closure and bottle neck have cooperating lug and ramp means of the bayonet type. The closure is placed over the bottle neck, depressed onto the neck and rotated relative to the neck to engage the lugs and ramps. To remove the closure, it is pressed downwardly to disengage the lugs and then rotated in the opposite direction. The closure is biased upwardly relative to the bottle neck by the engagement of an annular conical shoulder on the closure with upwardly turned fingers on a disc-like biasing element that is positioned between the top of the closure and the end of the bottle neck.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,049,148 describes a child resistant safety closure and container assembly of the type including a cap having locking lugs projecting from its skirt for engagement with complementary bayonet locking elements on the container. A combined spring and sealing member is carried be the cap to resiliently maintain the cap and container in locked engagement, and provide a moisture proof seal. The spring and sealing member includes a plunger having a cylindrical base portion concentric with a cylindrical sealing wall. A plurality of radial stiffening members extend between the base portion and the inner end of the cylindrical sealing wall. In one embodiment, the stiffening members are in the form of ribs molded integrally to the side wall. In another embodiment, the stiffening members are in the form of flutes molded into the side wall.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,346,809 describes a convertible child-resistant close that comprises an outer closure and an inner resilient liner. When applied to a cooperating container in the child-resistant mode, the resilient liner is distorted between the container rim and abutments formed on the outer closure panel, thereby providing an upward locking bias to the closure. The upper surface of the liner includes depressions adapted to receive the abutments only when the liner and the outer closure are in particular relative angular orientation. To convert the assembly to a closure are in a particular relative angular orientation. To convert the assembly to a closure which is not child-resistant, the liner is removed and reoriented so that the abutments are received within the depressions, thereby preventing the abutments from distorting the liner to provide the locking bias.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,387,817 describes a child-resistant package characterized by a container with a thread neck portion, a closure provided with a multiplicity of threads cooperatively engaging the threads on the neck portion, means connected to the threaded neck portion for stopping the threading rotation of the closure onto the threaded neck portion at a predetermined position, and resilient liner means interposed between the underside of the top of the closure and the top of the neck portion.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,148,931 describes a new and simple tamper-resistant, safety closure for a container having threaded neck. It requires the user to align the two arrows, then give it and upward lift while turning in the counter-clockwise direction to unscrew it from the container. Features of the invention useful in accomplishing the above objects include an outer cap and an inner cap. The interior surface of the outer cap has a plurality of identical protrusions, called the type A protrusions, and one type B protrusion. The exterior surface of the inner cap has plurality of identical grooves, called the type A grooves, and one type B groove. If the type B protrusion is lifted into the type B groove, then the two caps inter-lock and turning the outer cap in the counter-clockwise direction would also turn the inner cap in the same direction, resulting in the unscrewing of the closure from the container. On the other hand, if the type B protrusion is lifted into one of the type A grooves, then the outer cap will rotate without unscrewing the inner cap from the container.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,161,706 describes a twist and push snap-on, child resistant cap and container that has an inner cap seal which is easily snapped onto a neck of a container and an outer cap. The outer cap has a top and sidewalls and has a greater cross-sectional area than the inner cap, and receives and physically restrains the inner cap within the outer cap such that the inner cap may be moved upwardly and downwardly within it over specified distance. The outer cap includes a locking lug located on its inside wall adapted to snap over a circumferential bead located in the neck of the container. There is a stop located on the inside wall of the outer cap and is freely rotatable about the neck of the container except when in contact with stop(s) on the neck of the container at its level of rotation when the outer cap is on the container. A spring mechanism located between the inner and outer cap so as to bias downwardly the inner cap. There is bead located circumferentially about its neck with a break to allow the lug and stop of the outer cap to pass therethrough. A first stop is located on the neck near but not above or below the opening in the bead and a second stop, larger than the first, is capable of preventing movement of the outer cap when rotated with its stop against its second stop.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,217,130 describes a child resistant closure for containers with threaded necks. It involves a cylindrical inner and outer cap which engage with one another by ratchets to close the closure. These ratchets do not engage when an attempt is made to open the closure. The inner cap has threads on its inside and is adapted to non-removably receive the outer cap in that the outer cap is rotatably engaged therewith. The outer cap is non-removably but rotatably mounted on and engaged with the inner cap. At least two biased keyway slots are used and each may be located either on the outside of the inner cap or the inside of the outer cap. There at least two biased keyway protrusions, one corresponding to each slot, and each protrusion extends toward its corresponding keyway slot. Each is located on which ever of the inner cap and outer cap does not contain the corresponding slot. There are indexes on each of the caps and when they are aligned, the keyway protrusions ad their corresponding keyway slots wills be aligned. The user will align the indexes or indicia and then lift up so that the protrusions fit into their keyway slots. In this manner, the outer cap engages the inner cap so that they are simultaneously rotated for opening. Upon closure, the protrusion will be pushed or dropped out of the slot and the ratchets will engage for proper closure.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,228,583 describes a child resistant closure for containers with threaded necks. It involves an inner cap and an outer cap which engages with one another by ratchets in order to close but these ratchets do not engage when an attempt is made to open the closure. The inner cap and outer cap are generally cylindrical and have sides and a top, although the outer cap may have an open top. The inner cap has threads on its inside and is adapted to non-removably receive the outer cap so that the outer cap is rotatably engage therewith. The outer cap is non-removably but rotatably mounted on an engaged with the inner cap. At least one keyway slot is located either on the outside of the Inner cap or the inside of the outer cap and there is at least one keyway protrusion extending toward the keyway slot and located in which ever of the inner cap and outer cap does not contain the slot. There are indexes on each of the caps and when they are aligned, the keyway protrusion and the keyway slot will be aligned. The user will align the indexes or indicia and then lift up so that the protrusion fits into the keyway slot. In this manner, the outer cap engages the inner cap so that they are simultaneously rotated for opening. Upon closure, the protrusion will be pushed or dropped out of the slot and the ratchets will engage for proper closure.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,367,640 describes a container having an open-ended and externally screw threaded cylindrical neck is fitted with a closure cap having an internal screw thread adapted to cooperate with the thread on the container neck and planar end wall adapted to form seal with the open end of the container neck. At least one of the opposing surfaces of the screw threads on the cap and the container neck is sufficiently inclined to the plane perpendicular to the axis of the neck of the container at the angle of at least 60xc2x0 so that the screw threads can slip laterally on one another to enable the side wall of the cap or the neck of the container to deform when the cap is tightened onto the container to form a seal.
Notwithstanding the prior art, the present invention is neither taught nor rendered obvious thereby.
The present invention relates to a child resistant overcap and container device. It is specifically developed for containers having non-round bodies, at least non-round upper bodies, with round necks. These containers could be elongated or irregular hexagonal containers, rectangular containers, trapezoidal containers, etc., and they are preferably oval. These configurations apply to both inside and outside top view footprints.
Thus the container of the present invention device has a round neck for attachment of a cap, and has a hollow body, a portion of the hollow body being an upper body adjacent the round neck. The upper body has a non-circular footprint with a front and back and opposing sides. The upper body of the container has a predetermined width as measured from side to side, and has a predetermined depth as measured from front to back, wherein the predetermined to create side to side shoulders.
There is also a collar permanently attached to the round neck of the container. The collar has an open, central circular portion about the round neck, and the central circular portion has a front and back and opposing sides. The collar has a pair of opposite shoulders extending outwardly from side to side of the central circular portion and above the shoulders of said upper body of the container. The collar has either at least one J-slot and at least one J-slot tracking protrusion located on at least one of its front and back.
There is an inner cap, also referred to herein as a cap, that is removably attachable to the round neck of said container. This cap may be any known closure. There is also an overcap having a front and back and opposing sides, and having a hollow inside. The overcap has an outside footprint substantially corresponding to the footprint of the upper body of the container. The overcap, relative to the collar, has the other of at least one J-slot and at least one J-slot tracking protrusion located in at least one of the front and the back, corresponding to the collar. In other words, either the overcap or the collar may have a J-slot and the other will have the corresponding protrusion.
Thus, a user may create a child resistant closure by pushing the overcap downwardly on the collar with the overcap front in alignment so as to cause movement of at least one protrusion/J-slot for locking engagement thereof wherein the opposite shoulders of the collar push upwardly against the overcap to maintain J-slot and protrusion engagement, and wherein the overcap is removed by complex motion of pushing downwardly and rotating and then lifting upwardly.
The cap that operates to open or close access to the container and is attached to or attachable to the round neck may be any type of cap, but in some preferred embodiments, neck is a threaded neck and the cap is a screwcap.
Also, in some preferred embodiments the collar shoulders are springs adapted to push upwardly on the overcap when the overcap is attached to the collar. The present invention child resistant overcap may include spring contacts on its inside sides corresponding to and adapted to engage the collar springs when the overcap is attached to the collar.
In some preferred embodiments, the present invention child resistant overcap and container device includes a collar that has at least one J-slot and the overcap has at least one J-slot tracking protrusion. Preferably there is at least one J-slot is located on the collar front. In a most preferred embodiment the present invention child resistant overcap and container device includes a collar that has at least two J-slots and the overcap has at least two J-slot tracking protrusions.
In another embodiment, the collar has at least one J-slot tracking protrusion and the overcap has at least one J-slot, e.g. each have two.